The Most Mind-Boggling Coincidences in World History (11 Photos)

They say there's no such thing as a coincidence—only patterns. Throughout history, however, a few bizarre twists of fate stand out. Here are some of the most unbelievable ones.







Lee Harvey Oswald and John F. Kennedy

Just a month before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Lee Harvey Oswald landed a job at the Texas School Book Depository. According to the official investigation, this very building provided the sniper's perch used to assassinate the 35th US President.

It begs the question: how different would world history be if Oswald had never been hired there?





Edwin Booth and Robert Lincoln

Shortly before Abraham Lincoln’s death, his son Robert was traveling through New Jersey. As a train began to move, young Lincoln slipped and fell into the open space between the platform and the train. Unable to pull himself up, he was suddenly yanked to safety by the collar of his coat.

His savior was none other than Edwin Booth—a famous American actor and the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the man who would soon assassinate President Lincoln.



Gavrilo Princip and Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Gavrilo Princip, the Bosnian-Serb nationalist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, succeeded only because of a stroke of pure luck.

An initial bomb plot against the Archduke failed miserably. Later that day, the Archduke's driver made a wrong turn and stopped right in front of a cafe where Princip was standing, attempting to reverse. Seizing the unexpected opportunity, Princip pulled out a gun and fired the fatal shots.

Had the driver not taken that wrong turn, World War I might never have erupted when it did.



James Dean and His Cursed Car

James Dean was an iconic Hollywood star of the 1950s. In 1955, he was killed in a horrific crash driving his prized Porsche 550 Spyder, which he had nicknamed "Little Bastard." But the tragedy didn't end with Dean; the car continued to wreak havoc for years.



1) After the crash, the wreckage was towed to a garage. While being unloaded, the mangled metal fell off a trailer and crushed a mechanic's legs.

2) The car's engine was later installed into a race car driven by surgeon William Eschrich. During a race, the vehicle spun out of control, resulting in Eschrich's fatal crash.

3) When mechanics attempted to restore the infamous Porsche, the garage housing it mysteriously burned to the ground.

4) Later put on display at a Sacramento highway safety exhibit, the car fell off its display pedestal, fracturing the hip of a nearby teenager.

5) By 1959, the cursed vehicle mysteriously broke into eleven pieces while in transit and vanished without a trace.



Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet

Famed author Mark Twain was born in 1835, on the very day Halley's Comet passed close to Earth. Decades later, Twain famously predicted he would pass away when the comet returned. Sure enough, he died in 1910, the exact day after the comet made its next appearance.



The Titanic and the Titan

Fourteen years before the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, author Morgan Robertson published a novella titled "Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan." It described a massive, allegedly "unsinkable" ocean liner named the Titan that struck an iceberg on an April night, causing catastrophic loss of life due to a shortage of lifeboats.

Remarkably, the fictional disaster mirrored the real-life fate of the Titanic in almost every chilling detail, right down to the month of the wreck.



Louis XVI and the Number 21

When King Louis XVI of France was a child, an astrologer warned him to always be on his guard on the 21st of every month. Terrified by the omen, the king refused to schedule any important business or events on that date.

However, the turmoil of the French Revolution shattered his precautions. On June 21, 1791, the king and queen were arrested while attempting to flee the country. On September 21 of that same year, France officially abolished the monarchy and declared itself a republic. Finally, on January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine.



Richard Lawrence and Andrew Jackson

In 1835, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate US President Andrew Jackson. Lawrence approached Jackson with two flintlock pistols. He pointed the first gun at Jackson and pulled the trigger, but it misfired. He quickly drew the second pistol and fired at point-blank range—only for it to misfire as well.

Jackson beat his attacker with his walking cane before bystanders subdued the gunman. When police later tested both pistols, they functioned perfectly.



Joseph Stalin and Tamerlane

In June 1941, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered a team of archaeologists to exhume the tomb of the 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

According to legend, an inscription inside the tomb warned: "Whosoever disturbs my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I." Just two days later, Nazi Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union.

In 1942, Stalin ordered Tamerlane’s remains to be reburied with full Islamic rites. Shortly thereafter, the Soviet army scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, turning the tide of World War II.